Dominica’s independent newspaper exposes the failures of Roosevelt Skerrit

Vijaya Laxmi Tripura

On web search, names of a number of Dominica newspapers and online portals will appear. Those include The Chronicle, The Dominican, DAVIBES, and The Sun. In my opinion, The Sun is an extremely vocal newspaper, that dares to publish the truth.

On November 3^rd this year, Dominica entered its 43^rd year of independence. But, according to The Sun, this tiny island nation has become more divided than it has ever been since Britain severed its umbilical cord in November 1978.

In an editorial published on November 3, The Sun, “And on 3rd November 2020, as we take stock of our progress or of our inordinately inadequate development, we must realize that we have been pulling ourselves down to where we are today, the poorest nation in the Eastern Caribbean, woefully dependent on our new monocrop -the sale of passports. A small divided nation like ours will find it difficult to survive in this ultra-competitive world especially if we are constantly at war with each other.”

It further said, “Undoubtedly, the major cause of this division is our tragic brand of divisive politics in which the winner actually takes all-the free government-funded houses; the meritorious service awards presented at the anniversary of independence; the business development concessions; the passport-selling agencies.

Of course, the major cause of this division is the persistent divisive politics; reds and blues are constantly at each other’s throats every day of every week of every month; the country seems to be in perpetual election campaign mode. No country can survive this incessant battering, this energy-sapping verbal warfare on radio talk shows in particular, this constant undermining of Dominica’s good name in the international press due to our alignment with unsavory persons and groups. To save our country we must declare a truce, an end to this hemorrhaging of our country’s image. Everyone should be able to survive on the 289 square mile volcanic rock that we call home.

But realistically, political warfare will not decline or end and Dominica will not enjoy any form of a developmental ethos unless the majority of inhabitants acknowledge that in truth and in fact this, and any other, Government was elected freely and fairly; that the electoral playing field is even and relatively free from the abuse of incumbency; that no party is spending as much as one hundred million dollars on an election campaign and other parties can only muster just a few hundred thousand; that the local and regional courts are perceived to be independent and unbiased, because, according to Montesquieu: “There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice”.

This year as in past years the Government of Dominica has decided that during the observance of the nation’s 42nd year of political independence, we should celebrate our progress and development. By selecting that theme (Embracing New Opportunities) the Skerrit Administration is implying that Dominica has taken advantage of old opportunities has made exceptional progress economically and socially and therefore we should all join the independence fetes with gay abandon. But instead of gaiety, we are of the view that during this special occasion we must contemplate the future of the island that O.N. Pond, the author of our National Anthem, has described as “this gem beyond compare.”

Indeed, we have to embrace new opportunities but we cannot do so effectively unless we reduce the level of political divisiveness, unless the vast majority of Dominicans have their shoulders to the wheel of development, unless justice, according to Dr. Martin Luther King, “rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

We have not read the speech that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is scheduled to deliver on November 3rd 2020, but we can assure you he will brag that the nation has, never in its history benefited…